§26.126. Telephone Solicitation. (a) Purpose. The purpose of this section is to require local exchange companies (LECs) to inform their customers of provisions of the law regarding telephone solicitation and to require telephone solicitors to implement systems and procedures to ensure that they do not solicit persons who ask not to receive consumer telephone calls. (b) Responsibility of LECs. Each LEC shall inform its customers of the provisions of the Business and Commerce Code, Chapter 37, and the Public Utility Regulatory Act §55.151 by inserting the notice prescribed by this subsection annually in the billing statement mailed to a customer. The notice required by this subsection shall be mailed to each customer as a bill insert. For residential customers, the notice required by this subsection and any customer proprietary network information (CPNI) notice required by §26.122 of this title (relating to Customer Proprietary Network Information) shall be published as a single insert and mailed to the customer in a billing statement. Each LEC shall also publish the notice required by this subsection in the consumer information pages of its local telephone directory on the same page or on a page adjacent to where the CPNI notice required by §26.122 of this title appears. The notice shall read as follows: "TELEPHONE SOLICITATION "Texas law provides certain protections for a person who receives a telephone solicitation at a residence. "A telephone solicitor must: * identify himself or herself by name; * identify the business on whose behalf he or she is calling; * identify the purpose of the call; and * identify the telephone number at which the person, company, or organization making the call may be reached. "A telephone solicitor may not call a residence before 9:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m. on a weekday or Saturday or before noon or after 9:00 p.m. on Sunday. "If a telephone solicitor uses an automatic dialing/announcing device, the machine must disconnect from your line within 30 seconds after termination of the call. "Exceptions: The requirements above do not apply to telephone solicitations made at your request, or solicitations made in connection with an existing debt or contract, or calls from a telephone solicitor with whom you have a prior or existing business relationship. "If you use a credit card to purchase consumer goods or a service from a telephone solicitor other than a public charity (an organization exempt from federal income tax under the Internal Revenue Code §501(c)(3)), the seller must: * offer a full refund for the return of undamaged and unused goods within seven days after you receive the goods or service (the seller must process the refund within 30 days after you return the merchandise or cancel your order for undelivered goods or service); or * provide you with a written contract fully describing the goods or service being offered, the total price charged, the name, address, and business phone of the seller, and any terms and conditions affecting the sale. "Complaints. The Attorney General of Texas investigates complaints relating to a violation of this law, which is found at the Business and Commerce Code Chapter 37. If you have a complaint about a telephone solicitor whom you believe has violated this law, contact: Consumer Protection Division, Office of the Attorney General of Texas, P.O. Box 12548, Austin, Texas 78711, (512) 463-2070. §26.126(b) continued "Another law, found at Public Utility Regulatory Act §55.151 and §55.152, requires a telephone solicitor to make every effort not to call a consumer who asks not to be called again. Complaints relating to a violation of this law are investigated by the Public Utility Commission of Texas. If you have a complaint about repeated solicitation from a telephone solicitor you have asked not to call you again, contact: Office of Customer Protection, Public Utility Commission of Texas, P.O. Box 13326, Austin, Texas 78711-3326, (512) 936-7120 or 1-888-782-8477. Hearing- and speech-impaired individuals with text telephones (TTY) may contact the commission at (512) 936-7136. "Be advised that you may have additional rights under federal law. Please contact the Federal Trade Commission or the Federal Communications Commission for further information on these additional rights." (c) Responsibilities of telephone solicitors. (1) Each telephone solicitor operating in this state who makes consumer telephone calls shall implement systems and procedures so that every effort is made not to call consumers who ask not to be called again. Upon request, a telephone solicitor shall provide a written description of such systems and procedures to the Public Utility Commission. (2) Every telephone solicitor must state the purpose of the call, the identity of the person and company or organization making the call, and a telephone number at which the person, company, or organization making the call may be reached, except where the provision of such information is prohibited under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 United States Code, §§1692, et seq.). (3) A telephone solicitor may not use any method, including per call blocking or per line blocking, that prevents caller identification information for the solicitor's lines from being shown by an end user's caller identification device. (4) The solicitor's displayed caller identification number must be one at which telephone calls may be received by end users if the solicitor leaves messages on end user answering machines or uses ADAD devices which play a recorded message. Solicitors must comply with this provision by September 1, 1998. (d) Penalties for non-compliance. Telephone solicitors who violate the provisions of subsection (c) are subject to an administrative penalty not to exceed $1,000 for each day or portion of a day in which non-compliance occurs.